The Sports Math program is a multimedia
series of lessons designed to provide highly individualized help for remedial
math students at Jr. or Sr. high school. Each lesson in the series consists of
audio media and three Score-sheets. Students participate in a lesson by
listening to the audio and responding on the Score-sheets to problems posed
during the commentary between sports announcers on the audio.

The audio media combine expert instruction in the four basic operations with
the excitement of familiar sports. Skill development activities center around
the math terminology used in the sports included in the program. Score-sheets
employ sports scenes and figures in cartoon form along with mathematics
material correlated to the audio.

Each lesson offers a unique source of remediation for students having
difficulty with basic math operations. All math concepts are presented in
simple terms and are expanded in step-by-step sequences of increasing
difficulty.

Lessons involving each operation are developed sequentially throughout the
program. Therefore, lessons 1 and 2 (addition) should be used in sequence as
should lessons 3 through 5 (subtraction), 6 through 9 (multiplication), and 10
through 12 (division).

Because of the range of abilities within most classrooms and the individual
response times necessary to complete the exercises on the Score-sheets, Sports
Math lessons can be used most effectively on an individual basis. However, the
program may be used by small groups of remedial math students who are
performing at approximately the same level in mathematics. Materials needed to
complete each lesson include audio media player, three Score-sheets, and a
pencil.

THE AUDIO
The audio lessons in Sports Math employ a motivational technique designed to
capture and hold the interest of students who have experienced difficulty in
mathematics. Each lesson opens with a special audio effect related to the
sports action highlighted in the lesson. This is usually followed by dialogue
between sports announcers who discuss the action in progress, give players'
records and game statistics, or engage in humorous byplay relevant to the
sport. This provides the lead-in to the skill-building activities on the
Score-sheets. The Sports Math narrator uses a friendly, positive approach to
the math instruction.

Each lesson begins with an explanation of a sample problem found on the first
page of the Score-sheets. Students are then given directions for completing the
mathematics activities, which are set firmly within the context of the sports
action. The narrator checks all student responses, providing immediate feedback
and reinforcement of each skill taught in the lesson.

Timed pauses are programmed into the audio to allow the student to complete
brief responses on the Score-sheets. However, when more than a few seconds are
needed to complete a response, an electronic tone signals the student to stop.
Students should be reminded that they may stop whenever additional response
time is needed, or replay any material they wish to hear again.

The use of headsets is recommended to avoid distracting other students in the
classroom and to reinforce the interaction between student and narrator.

The running times of the audio average approximately 15 minutes. The average
working time of each lesson is about 25 to 30 minutes. It should be remembered
that this time is only an approximation. Since the student stops and starts the
audio several times during the course of each lesson to complete exercises, the
actual time needed will depend on the student's working speed.

THE SCORESHEETS
Three Score-sheets duplicated from black- lines are used in each lesson of the program.
The Score-sheets contain lively illustrations depicting action from the sport
presented on the audio, and include carefully arranged math exercises.

In each lesson, the first two Score-sheets are completed by the students as the
audio presentation progresses. The responses on these pages are checked and
corrected by the narrator. Score-sheets number three contain review exercises
which the students are asked to finish after the audio has finished playing.
Responses on this page will provide you with a means of informally evaluating
how well the students have under- stood and applied the concepts presented in
the lesson. You may, in the interest of time, decide that the students should
complete the review page as homework or during another class session. If so, be
sure to explain this before the les- son is begun.

THE TEACHER'S GUIDE
This guide includes individual summaries of the lessons in the program. Each
summary lists the skills objectives for the lesson, a description of the
activities on pages 1 and 2 of the Score-sheets, and an Evaluation portion
which deals with page 3, the review page of the lesson. For convenience in
evaluating student performance, each lesson guide includes reproductions of the
Score-sheets, with correct answers over- printed. The reproduction for
Score-sheet number three, the review page in each lesson, is shown in full size
to facilitate checking of students' answers.